Former Undergraduate Students

Johanna “Pokie” Olson, 2004, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Physics, Saint Olaf College in 2008. Ph.D. in Computational Astrophysics, University of Notre Dame in 2015. Currently: Data Scientist at American Family Insurance.

Denise Nemenz, 2005, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Computer Science from University of Southern California in 2006. Masters of Engineering in Computer Science from Penn State in 2008. Currently: Research Engineer at the Applied Physics Lab of John Hopkins University.

Robert Skarbek, 2005, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Physics from Penn State in 2006. MS in Geosciences from Penn State in 2008. Ph.D. in Geosciences at the University of Oregon in 2012. Currently: Postdoctoral position in Geological Sciences at University of Oregon.

George Malek, 2006, REU Student and Honor Thesis Advisor for the Schreyer’s Honors College, Penn State. BS in Physics from Penn State in 2007. Currently: Running his own music recording studio in LA.

Kevin Rybicki, 2008, REU Student and Honor Thesis Advisor for the Schreyer’s Honors College, Penn State. BS in Physics form Penn State in 2009. Masters in Medical Physics from Duke University in 2012. Currently: Working for a start-up company in Houston.

Ryan Atwater, 2009, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Mathematics from UMBC in August 2012. Masters in Industrial and Applied Mathematics from Towson University in 2015. Currently: Ph.D. student in Applied Mathematics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Chris Billman, 2010, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Physics with a minor in Mathematics from Penn State in 2011. Currently: Graduate Student, Physics, University of Florida.

Ryan Maunu, 2010, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Physics from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in 2011. Currently: Graduate Student, Ph.D. in Physics at University of Maryland.

Tyler Maunu, 2011, REU Student, Penn State. BS in Mathematics from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in 2013. Currently: Graduate Student, Ph.D. in Mathematics at University of Minnesota.